


Miles to Go Before I Sleep

by ladykardasi



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Challenges, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 11:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10920744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladykardasi/pseuds/ladykardasi
Summary: If Chakotay had been Starfleet before Voyager was thrown to the other side of the universe, this might have happened.Stephen's Bad Title challenge produced another sniplet





	Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Chakotay was running around like mad across the station. It seemed that all sleeping quarters on the entire station had been assigned to someone. And some traveler who had thrown up all over the place had contaminated his quarters. According to the station commander Benjamin Sisko, there were no other quarters available what so ever. 

Shooting a longing gaze at Voyager, he knew he couldn’t return to the ship. She was undergoing a contamination sweep before venturing toward the Badlands, and there were no crewmembers aboard. Furthermore they weren’t allowed to return in two days. Chakotay sighed and moved toward the bar, which was also full to bursting, but it seemed like the best place to go at the moment. 

A red-haired man, holding a huge pint of beer was sitting at one of the tables. The other chair was empty, and at this very moment, Chakotay wasn’t picky. He’d barge in on anyone, even if the guy looked like he didn’t really want company. 

“Is this seat taken?” he asked. 

“No, go right ahead,” the red-haired man said with a pronounced Irish accent. “I’m just leaving anyway.”

“Don’t leave on my account,” Chakotay said. “I just needed somewhere to sit. I’ve been dragging my gear across the entire station in search of somewhere to bunk.”

“Oh, you’re Commander Chakotay, eh?” the man said, and looked suddenly sympathetic. 

“Yeah, that’s me.” 

“I’m sorry about what happened to your quarters. It’s been a crazy week. Ships are coming in from all over the quadrant and there are aliens visiting for the Bajoran Gratitude Festival. It’s insane. The station has never been this packed before.”

“So I gathered,” Chakotay said dryly.

“So, what can I get you?” came a voice from behind Chakotay and he turned toward the Ferengi standing by their table with a notebook and a pen in his hand. 

“Oh, nothing. I just nee...”

“He’ll have the same as me, Quark,” the Irish man said curtly. “On me.”

“My, my, Chief, you’re being awfully generous today,” Quark said, wrote down the order and disappeared. 

“You shouldn’t have ...” Chakotay began but the man Quark had called Chief waved him off. 

“Quark is just like every other Ferengi, cheap and conniving. If you hadn’t ordered anything, he’d have thrown you out of here without blinking. So you’d better sit tight, enjoy your beer and rest your legs for a while.”

“Thanks, Chief,” Chakotay said and held his hand out. 

“I’m Miles”, the “Chief” said. “Miles O’Brien.”

“Pleased to meet you, Miles.”

“You too, Commander Chakotay.”

“Now, it seems to me like you’re a part of personnel on this station.”

“Indeed I am!” said Chief O’Brien proudly. “I am the Chief Engineer.” 

“So I gathered,” Chakotay said and smiled. “And as such, I’m quite sure you’d know where I could find sleeping quarters. Have you got any suggestions for me.”

Chief O’Brien looked down in his beer, and at that moment Quark returned with another beer for Chakotay. “Here you go, Commander,” Quark said. “And don’t dawdle. This is a business not a resting place.” With those words, he turned and left. 

“He’s mean, that Ferengi,” Chakotay said and tasted his beer. “And I think the damned beer is watered down.”

“You get used to it,” O’Brien said. “Now, I’m sorry to say this, Commander, but there really is not good place for you to stay the night. Can’t you bunk with one of your ship mates?”

Chakotay sighed. “No, I’m afraid not. They all seem to have paired up already. The only one who’s alone is the captain, and she’s not likely to allow me to stay in her room.”

“No love lost there, eh?” Chief O’Brien asked. 

“She’s not very fond of me. She believes I have connections in the Maquis.”

“And do you?” 

“Sure,” Chakotay said. “But that doesn’t mean I am one of them.”

“I reckon not,” Chief O’Brien said. “Well, my wife and daughter are on Bajor this week, for the Gratitude Festival, so you could always bunk with me if you like.”

Chakotay grinned and slapped O’Brien’s shoulder gratefully. “I’d sleep in your wardrobe if I had to,” he said. 

“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary, Commander,” Chief O’Brien said with a meaningful glance at Chakotay and rested a hand invitingly on his thigh. “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary at all.”

Chakotay grinned and winked. “Then, I believe we should go.”

“I do think you’re right, Commander,” Chief O’Brien said and both men rose to their feet and left the bar, beer forgotten. 

Quark hustled over to their table, took their glasses, moved through the throng of people and walked over to another table where a strikingly handsome young man shared a table with a Cardassian spy-gone tailor. 

“A beer for you, Doctor Bashir,” he said. “And a Rokassa juice for you, Garak.”

END


End file.
